


This Kind of Madness

by Augend (orphan_account)



Series: what's next? (feat. the seaborn administration) [2]
Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/F, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:54:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28775658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Augend
Summary: "Are you aware," Sam asks. "that Ainsley has quote-tweeted the Washington Post's article on - on the video?"
Relationships: Donna Moss & Sam Seaborn, Joey Lucas/Donna Moss, Josh Lyman/Sam Seaborn
Series: what's next? (feat. the seaborn administration) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2109723
Comments: 5
Kudos: 25





	This Kind of Madness

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Thanks for reading! In terms of the senior staff OCs, they were references in an email in the first part of this fic, but just a refresh:
> 
> Nell: Penelope Chae (director of communications)  
> Gabby: Gabrielle Varghese (dep. director of communications)  
> Dex: Dexter Canales (press secretary)  
> Charlie is DCOS!

“So is it true?” Dex asks Donna after staff. Donna’s got something with the secretary of labor in five minutes, so when she says, absentmindedly, “Anything’s true as long as you think it is,” she's not expecting much. 

“Oh,” Dex says, and the tone of his voice tells Donna he’s smirking. “So is it true that the House minority whip swept the floor with the president on live television, or do I have to dispel the rumors?”

"That's not new, Dex,” Donna says, flipping through her portfolio. “That's why we let him turn up _Pirates of Penzance_ when he's feeling miserable about the legislative branch.” 

“So you're not denying it?”

“Let's go with that,” Donna says, before - “So, word on 482?” 

“It's pretty up in the air. We still aren't sure where the leadership is going with it and none of my contacts at the Hill know anything. Wouldn't be surprised if I got a question about it today," Dex tells her. Donna nods; she probably needs to join Charlie at the Hill regarding 482 sometime this afternoon. He's been doing a damn good job with Nell, but with the State of the Union coming up, she'll probably be more focused on that. Besides, no one should face Congress alone. 

Dex adds, pointed, with that dry sarcasm that has made him both apt at deadpanning reporters and dancing around questions when need be, “I'll probably need to run it with the President sometime this week. Who knows? Maybe this time, I'll avoid him telling me about the dangers of overusing em-dashes. Which, by the way, isn't even my field."

“Well, he loves his punctuation,” Donna adds before they cut ways to each of their offices. 

* * *

A week later, during a meeting in Donna's office, Dex says, “Did you know Capitol Beat’s YouTube channel keeps an archive all the way back until the late 80s?” 

Charlie nods after a moment, Nell looks interested, and Gabby takes out her smartphone and scrolls through YouTube. 

“No,” Donna says, more preoccupied with her paperwork. 

"Well, it does," Dex says now, mouth shifting into a grin. "And there's some interesting stuff there if you look hard enough.”

Gabby is still scrolling through her phone before her eyes go wide and she pauses. “Wait, were you talking about this?”

She starts watching something and pulls it up to show Donna. It's dated from 2000, not clear-cut like she's used to. 

It starts playing and - 

“What the hell,” Nell exclaims, her frizzy dark hair detangling from its bun. “Is that the _minority whip?”_

Donna watches Ainsley Hayes, minus a couple of silver hairs and twenty years, fingers folded up in front of her, staring intently at the camera, before interrupting Sam’s statement. Her voice is poised and even until it isn't, but she continues anyway, refuting and elaborating like an art. The first time Donna had watched this, it'd been perched on someone’s desk in the bullpen, knee to knee with Bonnie and Ginger. She distinctly remembers Josh cackling and the smell of popcorn wafting about. Charlie is watching with an expression that's more than a little resigned; it hits Donna that he'd probably been watching this, back when it first aired, with President Bartlet. That must've been strange. 

Sam looks a lot more deer-in-headlights than she remembers. 

Gabby says, “Wow, she really won that one,” tone tempered with respect. 

"Yes, she did,” Donna says in reply because for all their differences, it's true. Ainsley can be concise and formidable all in one, and that hasn't changed at all. 

"We probably should keep this under the radar," Charlie notes. "I mean, honestly speaking, I don't think it'll do much, but you never know."

Still, it's inevitable when the video starts circulating around the west wing.

Some staffer or intern reposts it and it's all over the internet within three days. Donna spends most of that time assuring the Democratic leadership that, no, the president's educational agenda isn't torpedoed, Ainsley Hayes is a respected peer of the president, and so on. Donna's next one on one meeting with Sam, deep into some warm August night, starts with him taking off his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose. 

"Are you aware," Sam says. "that Ainsley has quote-tweeted the Washington Post's article on - on the video?" Sam keeps on top of these things, even though he technically has a whole social media office. His expertise with it and Josh's general inability at it has made for some strange (and admittedly hilarious) incidents over the years. 

"She added a hashtag," Donna says, because the sight of the quote-tweet had been enough to send her and Joey into stitches. _"#throwbackthursday_. Caption: The president and I, circa 2000. We've both aged well, but his point in this argument hasn't." 

The optics of this are weird, but Donna knows Ainsley well enough to understand that she probably just meant it in good humor. 

"Well," Sam says, jutting his chin slightly, setting his hand on his jaw. It's in moments like these that Donna thinks of her first round in the White House - Sam balancing legal pads on his knees, hair falling loose across his forehead, head bent together with Toby, CJ, Josh, or some combination of the three. Donna loves her staff, she does, but there's something about that time of her life that'll keep with her. "I'm assuming you've done damage control."

Donna nods. She'd set up a meeting with Ainsley and the leadership in Congress are mostly on their feet again. What Donna doesn't mention is the tangent that her visit to Ainsley had led into. Somewhere between 3 and 4 o'clock, they'd ended up talking about how Ainsley was trying to get some of the reps out of sleeping in their offices, to no avail. 

"I mean, _honestly,"_ she'd said, her voice exasperated. "I understand the notion of living the job, but I also understand the notion of work-life balance." 

"The holy grail," Donna had replied. "If you finally achieve it, cut me a slice." 

"I'll make sure," Ainsley had answered. 

"It's the least I could do," Donna adds now, and then, just because she can, she slides her chin into her palm and says, with half a grin, "So, has Josh seen it yet?"

Sam rubs his hand across his face, and the look on his face is terribly fond and terribly exasperated. 

"If we're communicating through solely facial expressions, sir," Donna replies. "I'd like to object. Efficiency issues and all that. I'm sure Josh would agree." 

"Efficiency issues," Sam repeats, and he sounds like he's trying not to laugh. "We've got plenty of that in stock, Donna."

"It's bureaucracy's fault, sir. Nothing much we can do there unless we're going to wipe out half of our departments, which would probably be pretty terrible in my opinion."

"Only pretty terrible?"

Donna cocks her head. "I know you've got a penchant for words, but I'm trying to be funny here." 

* * *

When she finally gets home at whatever time it is, Joey's already sitting in the kitchen, tapping away in her computer. Her auburn hair is in a loose, messy bun, right at the nape of her neck, and there are bags under her eyes, but she's still beautiful and the best sight Donna's seen all week.

Donna leans in and drops a kiss to her forehead, and Joey shifts to look at her. 

_"Hi,"_ she says and signs, and presses her lips to Donna's, quick and soft. Like saying hello all over again. Then Joey signs, " _You're a sight for sore eyes."_

 _"Am I? I'm flattered."_ Joey's eyes flit to hers, and Donna sits next to her, setting her elbows on the table and her bag on the counter. 

_"How's work?"_ Donna signs. Joey considers and then, signs back, _"Eventful. Just the usual."_ Then after a moment, her smile goes cheeky and young, and she adds. _"Interesting."_

At this, Donna laughs, slips out of her cardigan, draping it on the back of her chair. _"I can imagine,"_ she replies, speaking and signing, and then _: "Actually, I can't. You know why?"_

_"Why?"_

_"Because your interesting events and my interesting events have most likely overlapped, making them similarly interesting events."_ Joey probably knew about the Capitol Beat vid before Donna did; she and Ainsley work together after all. 

Joey considers this, closing her laptop. She loosely crosses her arms, a wrinkle forming between her eyebrows, before tipping her head toward Donna's like they're sharing a secret and signing, _"I think there's a margin of error there."_

 _"You're the numbers person, Joey,"_ Donna signs back, mouth quirking, and catches Joey's lips in a kiss, hand settling on the curve of Joey's jaw. Donna figures that the smile that Joey gives her afterward, wide and gorgeous, is enough to make up for the lack of warning beforehand.

She's had enough curveballs this week, anyway, and even though she loves it, loves the rhythm and unpredictability of politics, the fact that she and Joey can come home to each other stays Donna's constant among all the insanity. She's grateful, she thinks, looking at Joey. Donna's grateful for all of it. 


End file.
